LG sales peak in October, courtesy 'no schemes'

LG Electronics has clocked its highest sales ever this October. Officials attribute this to its strategy of not compromising on product quality and selling them at 'honest prices'

Prachi Joshi Joharagencyfaqs!NEW DELHI, November 1

LG Electronics India has clocked its highest sales ever, amounting to Rs 210 crore, in the month of October. Company officials attribute the success to its strategy of not compromising on product quality and selling the products at 'honest prices' instead of offering freebies during the festival season.

Says Vijay Narayanan, deputy general manager, marketing, LG Electronics India, "While most consumer durable companies were going overboard with freebies, we decided, for the third year in succession, not to mislead the consumer with any discounts or free gifts on our products. This festival season we wanted to sell our products on the value they deliver rather than on the support of freebies."

This strategy, reflected largely in the company's 'no scheme, no scheming' ad campaign, seems to have paid off. The campaign was tested out first in some regional pockets before being run nationwide. The campaign was run in Mumbai during Ganesh Chaturthi, in Cochin during Onam, and in the north-east during Dussehra. It was then run on a national scale last month during the Diwali season.

"The campaign, designed by Lowe Lintas & Partners, had a budget of Rs 1.2 crore allocated to it - a paltry figure considering the amount of sales the campaign has helped generate," says Narayanan. "LG attained its highest sales ever across almost all product categories last month," he added. The company's turnover in the period January - October 2000 stands at Rs 1,627 crore, against Rs 746 crore in the same period last year.

No wonder the LG brass is upbeat. Company officials point out that the consumer electronics industry grew by around 15 per cent in the first half of the year 2000. LG Electronics outpaced the industry by growing at 40 per cent in the same time period. Added to this, a 100 per cent growth in home appliances (microwaves and ACs) has helped LG Electronics emerge as the top player in the entire durables (consumer electronics and home appliances) category in India, say company officials.